Dream On!

By: Anessa Cohen

A homeowner called me last week asking me to come and view his house since he was ready to sell and wanted me to market it for him. The house was located on a prestigious street in Lawrence, and when I looked up information on the property, I discovered that the property was built on a full acre and had a beautiful in-ground pool, exquisitely sculpted landscaping, and was privately set back from the street. I continued to check out the features of the home and realized that it was all brick, with a Spanish tile roof, and an attached 2-car garage.

I couldn’t wait to see what the interior looked like, so I called to make an appointment to see the rest of the house and see what the homeowner was hoping to realize from the sale of the house.

Upon arrival, I noted that the front door was a 9-foot-high custom wood door with stained glass sidelights on either side, and the front porch and steps were granite. I rang the bell, excited by the lovely appearance presented to me by the peripheral views from the door to the street. It was so inviting, and I could not wait to see what the interior held.

The homeowner welcomed me into a center hall with cathedral ceilings and beautifully arched doorways leading on one side to a massive living room with mahogany floors and a large marble fireplace, and on the other side, to a dining room running 40 feet to a butler’s pantry, which continued to a magnificent eat-in kitchen with extensive floor-to-ceiling cabinets, granite counters featuring milchig and fleishig on each end, and a pareveisland with a sink, baking counter, and cabinets next to a matching granite kitchen table with seating for ten.

I was thinking to myself that this was just the kind of home I would have loved as I followed the homeowner on his presentation. Next to the kitchen was a huge den with another fireplace and windows floor to ceiling with views of the beautiful landscaping that enhanced the property. There was a slightly smaller den next door with French doors opening to the living room, rounding out the first floor. But wait—where was the bathroom on the first floor? I wondered. Lo and behold, we returned to the center hall where two powder rooms stood side-by-side next to a walk-in coat closet.

Upstairs, we went for a view of the five bedrooms, all master bedroom size with walk-in closets in each and full en suite bathrooms. The master suite was huge and contained a sitting room next to it and then his and hers bathrooms with stall showers and Jacuzzis and double walk-in closets off to the side of each one, as well as a large private terrace overlooking the expansive property, with lovely chaises laid out for relaxing.

In the hallways connecting the bedroom was a large laundry room with an ironing room as well as two walk-in closets for linens along the back wall.

It was obvious I was getting more excited about this beautiful home with every new door that the homeowner opened for me, and then he suggested we go downstairs to see the finished basement and round out the tour.

Down in the basement, he had created a huge entertainment room with bucket seats, a mini kitchen with a full refrigerator featuring different sodas and beverages and cabinets loaded with snacks. The movie screen took up the entire front wall floor to ceiling and side-to-side. The seating, which at the moment seemed to be set up permanently for at least 25 guests, could easily fit twice that amount with no problem.

Finally, I could not take it anymore and said to the seller, “This is all magnificent, how much are looking to sell this exquisite home for?” The gentleman looked at me and said: “I want $550,000 which seems to be the amount that everyone wants to pay.”

I looked at him and screamed.

Then I woke up.

It just goes to show you that you have to dream to get this kind of house for that kind of money!

Wishing everyone a G’mar chatimah tovah! 

Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a Licensed Real Estate Broker (Anessa V Cohen Realty) with over 20 years of experience offering full service residential, management, and commercial real estate services in the 5 Towns of Long Island as well as the tri-state area. She can be reached at 516-569-5007 and encourages readers to send any questions via email to [email protected].